Judge in Manning WikiLeaks case allows two charges to stand

Associated Press

A military judge has again refused to throw out two of the 22 charges against an Army private charged in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history.

Attorneys for Pfc. Bradley Manning argued earlier this week during a hearing at Fort Meade that two charges should be dropped. The judge overseeing the case, Col. Denise Lind, denied the request Wednesday. She agreed with military prosecutors it would be improper to drop the charges at this point.

Prosecutors say Manning, now 24, gave hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic cables and war logs to the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks.

Lawyers for Manning and the government Monday began a five-day hearing to discuss a number of issues in advance of his planned September trial.